Football is constantly evolving and with data, plus in-depth analysis, growing exponentially in the modern game, new tactical innovations are made with increasing frequency.
As a result, formations are being manipulated in more creative ways and players of a particular skill set are being used in roles they perhaps wouldn’t be in previous decades.
Philipp Lahm was an ideal example. Renowned as one of the best right-backs around for most of his career, Pep Guardiola deployed him in midfield as the central cog in a possession-based system.
How many other players from the past would thrive in different positions in today’s game? How many more goals would Ryan Giggs score as an inverted winger in a front three? Could Fernando Redondo have been a stylish centre-back on the left side of a back three bringing the ball out and even attacking on the overlap?
In this series, we look at past legends and theorise the possible new positions within the tactics of the modern game.
This edition sees us explore a new role for a technically brilliant Pavel Nedved…
LEGEND: PAVEL NEDVED | LEFT MIDFIELD
Position in modern game: Centre Midfield
Point of reference: Kevin De Bruyne
When you think of the complete midfielder at present, you think of Kevin De Bruyne. The Manchester City man doesn’t just check every box, he gets top grades in all departments. There are no significant weaknesses in his game.
Of course, he may not dribble his way past an entire defence or show off audacious individual skill, but he knows how to beat a man and where he really hurts oppositions is when he has opportunities to shoot or pass.
Use the above description 15-20 years ago and you’d be talking about Pavel Nedved.
Like De Bruyne, his genius wasn’t immediately evident or appreciated. Jose Mourinho failed to see the then winger’s value during his second spell at Chelsea and respected Czechoslovakian Euro ’76 winner Karol Dobias publicly wrote Nedved off.
After watching him play for Sparta Prague, he famously declared in his newspaper column: “This lad has no future.”
However, while De Bruyne got his opportunity to flourish through the middle at Wolfsburg before elevating his game at City, Nedved largely remained a left-sided midfielder throughout his career, but made his way to the top nevertheless.
There was no question of his capacity to feature anywhere in midfield and he did enjoy brief runs as an attacking midfielder. But given his qualities, it stands to reason that he’d be an outstanding central midfielder given the opportunity in today’s game, perhaps in the mould of De Bruyne.
Passing
One of the foremost reasons why Nedved never really transitioned from a wide role to playing more centrally is his outstanding ability to cross the ball. A winger capable of such quality in that department was a prized asset and chief supply line for strikers in the middle.
He was technically gifted with either foot, able to generate width and produce threatening deliveries into the box with his left or cut inside and unleash ferocious shots with his right.
In recent times, however, we’ve seen De Bruyne’s exemplary crossing utilised masterfully from central midfield within Pep Guardiola’s system at Man City. He arrives in the half-space between the middle of the pitch and the flank where he is allowed enough time to deliver a quality cross.
Deploy Nedved in such a system, which it must be remembered involves surrounding players creating that pocket of space for him with their movement and positioning, and you can expect similar results.
Nedved was no slouch when it came to creating through the middle in a more conventional way either, with clever short passes and through balls for the striker. Indeed he proved as much on the few occasions he played as an attacking midfielder.
Not only did he have the vision to spot runs and thread the eye of the needle but the weight of his passes was sublime, something that’s not mentioned enough when listing his qualities.
Physicality
Although he never really got his opportunity to shine in the middle of the park, it’s evident that he had all the physical traits to thrive there, even more so in the modern game given the mobility and dynamism the position demands.
Nedved was reasonably quick and a bundle of energy. He seemed suited to the pressing culture of the modern game, pushing high up the pitch and closing opponents down or cutting off passing lanes with intensity and intelligence.
He was a fierce competitor, too, who was tactically disciplined and never shirked his defensive responsibilities.
Another aspect of his game that separated him from other wingers was his tackling. The ‘Czech Fury’ was wholly committed in challenges and often won possession before carrying the ball forward to launch an attack in the transition.
Technique
The ability to hit a good volley, consistently, is normally a good indication of fine technique and Nedved struck plenty in his time. In fact, he was a good striker of the ball in general which is why his nickname in English media was ‘The Czech Cannon”.
But rather than employing brute force, Nedved was all about the technique, invariably striking the ball sweetly. Goals from midfielders, particularly attack-minded ones are expected in the modern game – as De Bruyne’s record would suggest – and the former Juve star proved his pedigree in that department.
Also attributed to his fine technique was his close control and dribbling. Those abilities are prerequisites for wingers, but apply them in central areas and you have a ball-carrying midfielder capable of breaking through the lines and unsettling the shape of the opposition.
Nedved was always a gifted playmaker and was one of the finest players of his generation, winning the Ballon d’Or in 2003. Implement his all-action style, creativity and technical brilliance in the central midfield today though, and De Bruyne would have some serious competition.
